Core making machines are employed to produce sand cores that are in turn used to produce voids or recesses in cast parts. Such molding machines typically inject molding sand into a core box comprising first and second mating core box halves. In such machines adapted to accommodate core boxes having a vertical parting line, it is necessary to transport the assembled core box into the machine, clamp the core box halves together using side platens and inject molding sand into the core box. Following curing of the cores in the box, the side platens and core box halves are moved away from one another. Ejector pins carried by one of the side platens and extending through the corresponding core box half carried thereby ensure that the produced cores are retained within the other core box half. The platen carrying the other core box half is retracted by a first piston and cylinder unit and is tilted downwardly by a second piston and cylinder unit. The produced cores are then ejected onto a conveyor or other surface for further processing.
The above-described core box handling apparatus is unduly complicated owing to the use of separate piston and cylinder units for retracting the platen and tilting the platen downwardly. In addition to increasing the overall expense of the core making machine, valving must be provided for controlling two piston and cylinder units. Also, complicated linkages must be employed to effect such movement of the platen. Undesirable complexity thus results.